Inside the Business of Body Part Trading
Fieser Artikel im Sydney Morning Herald über den internationalen Schwarzmarkt für Körperteile. Tote aus der Ukraine für amerikanische Pharmaproduzenten mit Sitz in Deutschland und sowas.
RTI is one of a growing industry of companies that make profits by turning mortal remains into everything from dental implants to bladder slings to wrinkle cures. The industry has flourished even as its practices have roused concerns about how tissues are obtained and how well grieving families and transplant patients are informed about the realities and risks of the business.
In the US alone, the biggest market and the biggest supplier, an estimated two million products derived from human tissue are sold each year, a figure that has doubled over the past decade.
It is an industry that promotes treatments and products that literally allow the blind to see (through cornea transplants) and the lame to walk (by recycling tendons and ligaments for use in knee repairs). It’s also an industry fuelled by powerful appetites for bottom-line profits and fresh human bodies.
Human corpses harvested in multimillion-dollar trade (via Boing Boing)
Frankenstein Mummies
Derzeit geht ‘ne Meldung über schottische Moorleichen rum, deren Körperteile von sechs verschiedenen Leuten kommen. Die Mumien wurden vor zehn Jahren entdeckt, und nun, als man feststellte, dass der Kieferknochen eines Skeletts nicht zum Schädel passte, hat man die Überreste genetisch analysiert. Die Leichen wurden 600 Jahre nach ihrem Tod erneut bestattet, ob sie schon vorher aus verschiedenen Menschen zusammengesetzt waren, kann man nicht sagen.
Ich schätze mal, bei der Urbarmachung dieser schottischen Moore ist bei der Umsetzung der Toten ganz einfach der Karren mit den Leichen umgefallen und man hat die Knochen als „Respektsbekundung“ neu zusammengesetzt, erscheint mir die einfachste und logischste Erklärung. Vielleicht haben die Schotten ihre Toten aber auch als Ritual auseinandergeschnitten und Leichenmashups gemacht, was weiß ich.
In a “eureka” moment worthy of Dr. Frankenstein, scientists have discovered that two 3,000-year-old Scottish “bog bodies” are actually made from the remains of six people. According to new isotopic dating and DNA experiments, the mummies—a male and a female—were assembled from various body parts, although the purpose of the gruesome composites is likely lost to history.
The mummies were discovered more than a decade ago below the remnants of 11th-century houses at Cladh Hallan, a prehistoric village on the island of South Uist (map), off the coast of Scotland. The bodies had been buried in the fetal position 300 to 600 years after death. (See bog body pictures.)
Based on the condition and structures of the skeletons, scientists had previously determined that the bodies had been placed in a peat bog just long enough to preserve them and then removed. The skeletons were then reburied hundreds of years later.
“Frankenstein” Bog Mummies Discovered in Scotland (via Neatorama), mehr Infos im History Blog: Scottish bog mummies are Frankenstein composites
Third Ear Earring

Percy Lau macht Schmuck aus Körperteilen und ich liebe den Ohr-Ohrring: „Your big ear grows a little ear“. Tiny little Mini-Ear. Love it! Der Mann macht auch Penis-Ringe, aber ich würde niemals meinen Penis auf meinem Finger rumtragen. Never! (via Dangerous Minds)
Tokyo Transsexual serves his cooked Penis and two literal Meatballs

Im April hat ein transsexueller Illustrator aus Tokyo seine Genitalien auf einem Banquet serviert. Bild oben: Literal Meatballs. Yummy!
On Sunday, April 13, Tokyo illustrator Mao Sugiyama (who goes by the nickname “HC”), publicly seasoned and braised his own genitals on a portable gas cartridge burner, and then served them to five eager diners who each paid about $250 for the meal (a sixth was a no-show). The genitals had been returned to the asexual Sugiyama, frozen and double-bagged in plastic, following elective genital removal surgery on his 22nd birthday in early April.
After initially considering eating them himself, Sugiyama offered the meal on Twitter in mid-April to the first person willing to pay 100,000 yen (about $1,250). But after the notoriety that his tweet caused, he organized a public banquet, dubbed “Ham Cybele – Century Banquet,” at the “Asagaya Loft A” event space in the Suginami Ward of Tokyo. “Century” in Japanese is a homophone for the Japanese word for “genitals”; “Ham Cybele” refers to the Anatolian mother goddess, prefixed with an appropriate word for tough meat to create a phrase whose initials match Sugiyama’s artist name of HC.
Tokyo Transsexual Cooks and Serves His Own Genitals at Public “Ham Cybele” Banquet, Police Shrug, “It’s Not Illegal” (via I heart Chaos, danke Daniel!)
Shiri, the Robot-Ass
YT Direktass, via Gizmodo
Nobuhiro Takahashi von der Uni Tokyo hat einen Roboter-Arsch entwickelt: Shiri, was übersetzt soviel heisst wie… Arsch. Das Ding “represents emotions with visual and tactual transformation of the muscles”. Selbstverständlich.
Christine Jins sensitive Kitchenware

Christine Jin macht sehr seltsame Küchengerätschaften. Das oben ist die Nostril Mill: „Features: 03 Oz Whole Peppercorns Stored In Sinus Cavity, Peppercorn Pulverization On Triggered Dispersion, Adjustable Sneeze Sensitivity“. (via Street Anatomy)
Buy John Lennons Tooth
Demnächst kann man in Kanada einen Backenzahn von John Lennon ersteigern. Vor ein paar Jahren hatte ich mal die Versteigerung einer Haarlocke von Elvis Presley und ich wette, wenn man nur lange genug wartet, kann man sich einen Frankenstein aus den Körperteilen legendären Musikern zusammenbauen. Aus irgendeinem Grund denke ich grade an Michael Jacksons Nase. Muss an der Uhrzeit liegen.
The molar, which has some discoloration and a cavity — probably why it was removed by a dentist — will be available with a reserve bidding price of just under $16,000.
Lennon gave the tooth to Dorothy “Dot” Jarlett when she worked as his housekeeper at his Kenwood home in Weybridge, Surrey, according to her son Barry. Jarlett, who was employed between 1964 and 1968, developed a warm relationship with Lennon, her son said.
“She was very close with John, and one day whilst chatting in the kitchen, John gave my mother the tooth (he had been to the dentist to have it removed that day) and suggested giving it to my sister as a souvenir, as she was a huge Beatles fan,” he said. “It has been in the family ever since.”
Ariana Page Russells Skin-Art

Über Ariana Page Russell Hautkunst hatte ich schonmal vor ein paar Jahren gebloggt, die Dame hat eine Hautkrankheit, die ihre Haut bei geringen Irritationen anschwillen lässt, was sie dazu benutzt, um auf sich selbst rumzumalen. Ihr Fotostrecke Skin One und Two gingen vor Jahren schonmal durchs komplette Internetz, mittlerweile hat sie aber noch ein paar neuere Arbeiten am Start.
My skin is very sensitive and I blush easily. I have dermatographia, a condition in which one’s immune system releases excessive amounts of histamine, causing capillaries to dilate and welts to appear (lasting about thirty minutes) when the hypersensitive skin’s surface is lightly scratched. This allows me to painlessly draw on my skin with just enough time to photograph the results. Even though I can direct this ephemeral response by drawing on it, the reaction is involuntary, much like the uncontrollable nature of a blush.
I also make wallpaper and collage with photographs of my skin cut into decorative designs, then attached to the wall or onto board. Sometimes I use these collages to decorate my skin by scanning the patterns and turning them into temporary tattoos. Then I place the tattoos back on my body as an additional layer for the fashion of skin. The tattoos are red and pink shades of sensitivity so I can adorn myself with a longer lasting, intentional welt or blush. Rather than being frustrated by my skin’s transparency, I claim it by dressing up in the crimson hues that reveal my vulnerability. Some of the tattoos also go on the wall or window after they’ve made contact with my body, leaving traces of cells and hair, and holding a record of skin’s map.
iPhone Hand-Case

Ein iPhone-Case in Form einer Hand, kommt in den Ausgaben „Ladys Hand“ und „Kids Hand“. Und nein, ich weiß es auch nicht.
Why???
Yeah, I am asking myself the same thing. Why would you want a hand on your iPhone 4, right? Well, believe it or not, this Hand iPhone 4 case could actually come in “handy”. As shown on the picture on the right, you could hold hands with your iPhone to make sure you don’t drop it. Or if you are feeling really lonely, this case may reach out to you and give you company.
Fingerprint-Scanner doesn’t like Dead People
In Hamburg haben sie einen Fingerabdrucksscanner entwickelt, der abgehackte Hände und abgeschnittene Finger ablehnt.
Severed fingers and even fingers cut from corpses can be used to give the bad guys entry to secure facilities, to steal cars or log on to computers.
It sounds outlandish, but the first reported case was in March 2005, when thieves stole a biometrics-activated Mercedes in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Initially they took the owner with them so he could start the car, but they soon tired of his presence – and hacked off his digit before dumping him at the roadside.
To combat such bloody skulduggery, researchers at Dermalog Identification Systems in Hamburg, Germany, have developed a way for a fingerprint scanner to differentiate between live and dead tissue.
Severed USB-Finger

Diesen abgetrennten Finger mit USB-Dings gab’s vor zwei Jahren mal bei Etsy zu kaufen, sowas sollte sich aber auch ganz schnell selber bauen lassen. (via DrLiMa)
John Miltons Poems bound in human Skin
Die Westcountry Studies Library in Exeter stellt derzeit eine 1852er Kopie der „Poetical Works“ von John Milton aus. Das Buch ist in Menschenhaut eines Mörders gebunden.
A very special 1852 edition of The Poetical Works of John Milton was put on public display for the first time at the Westcountry Studies Library on February 26th as part of Devon’s Local History Day. As you might have cleverly deduced from the title, what makes this volume special is that it was bound in the skin of executed murderer George Cudmore.
George Cudmore, a short, humpbacked rat-catcher, was convicted in 1830 of poisoning his wife Sarah by putting arsenic in food and medicine. He claimed to have been driven to the act by his lover Sarah Dunn. Dunn confessed that she had seen him messing around with a white powder, that she had told him not to poison his wife as he would be hanged. He put it in his wife’s elder tea anyway and she saw him do it without stopping him. She said that even though she wasn’t actively involved in the murder, she did let it happen and she did live “in criminal intercourse” with Cudmore, so she felt she was equally guilty.
The jury disagreed. Dunn was acquitted and Cudmore convicted at the Lent Assizes in March, 1830. He was sentenced to hang, and to have his cadaver donated to the Devon and Exeter Hospital for dissection. On March 25th, George Cudmore was hanged from his neck until dead as Dunn watched.
Milton’s poems bound in murderer skin on display, BBC: Book bound in human skin goes on display in Devon, mehr bei Wikipedia: Anthropodermic bibliopegy
What to do when body parts fall off
Was macht man am besten, wenn man sich einen Finger abschnibbelt? Man legt ihn auf Eis, richtig? Falsch. CNN hat einen schönen Artikel mit ein paar Tipps, falls man sich beim Salatgurkenschneiden etwas heftiger weh tut.
The first thing you do when a body part becomes detached is control the bleeding. Put direct pressure on the wound and elevate it higher than the heart, advises Dr. Dave Manthey, professor of emergency medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Then rinse off the severed finger or toe (or part thereof).
“You are trying to decrease the bacteria,” Manthey explains. “But don’t scrub it. If you scrub, you’re causing blunt force damage.”
Now get a clean cloth or piece of sterile gauze, dampen it with cold water and wrap the finger or toe in it. Then put the wrapped appendage into a plastic bag and put the bag in cold (preferably iced) water.
Artshow: The Body Part Bakery

Künstler Kittiwar Unarroms Körperteil-Bäckerei hatte ich hier schonmal vor ein paar Jahren, aber da der Mann eine neue Ausstellung am Start hat, dort seine gebackenen Arme, Beine und Köpfe zeigt und CNN dazu eine Story mit schicken Bildern von essbaren Körperteilen hat, muss ich den natürlich nochmal bringen.
Dismembered human body parts covered in blood are packaged like fresh food found in supermarkets. To achieve this authentically horrific aesthetic, Kittiwat spent a great deal of time studying anatomy and visiting forensic museums while at the same time working to improve the taste of his artworks.
“The first series was edible, but they were not delicious. And I don’t want art to just be an object of art; I want the audience to feel involved. I tried hard to make the artworks more and more flavorful,” says Kittiwat.
In 2008, Kittiwat baked fresh heads for the audience to eat at his Body and the Dead exhibition — the tiny heads smelled and tasted fantastic — though it was an odd sensation if you allowed yourself to look into their eyes before biting into them.
Tales from the kitchen of Thailand’s most gruesome baker (Danke Kelly!)
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
Thailands Körperteil-Bäckerei
Anatomisch korrektes Totenschädel-Brot
Hier nochmal das Video von damals, guten Appetit.
Nik Ramages Hand-Machine

Ich liebe diese Hand-Maschine von Nik Ramage, die grade auf dem London Design Festival 09 rumsteht und mit ihren Fingern rumtrommelt. Auf seiner Website gibt’s einen Filmloop dazu.
On Sunday, April 13, Tokyo illustrator Mao Sugiyama (who goes by the nickname “HC”), publicly seasoned and braised his own genitals on a portable gas cartridge burner, and then served them to five eager diners who each paid about $250 for the meal (a sixth was a no-show). The genitals had been returned to the asexual Sugiyama, frozen and double-bagged in plastic, following elective genital removal surgery on his 22nd birthday in early April.
The molar, which has some discoloration and a cavity — probably why it was removed by a dentist — will be available with a reserve bidding price of just under $16,000.
My skin is very sensitive and I blush easily. I have dermatographia, a condition in which one’s immune system releases excessive amounts of histamine, causing capillaries to dilate and welts to appear (lasting about thirty minutes) when the hypersensitive skin’s surface is lightly scratched. This allows me to painlessly draw on my skin with just enough time to photograph the results. Even though I can direct this ephemeral response by drawing on it, the reaction is involuntary, much like the uncontrollable nature of a blush.
Why???
The first thing you do when a body part becomes detached is control the bleeding. Put direct pressure on the wound and elevate it higher than the heart, advises Dr. Dave Manthey, professor of emergency medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Dismembered human body parts covered in blood are packaged like fresh food found in supermarkets. To achieve this authentically horrific aesthetic, Kittiwat spent a great deal of time studying anatomy and visiting forensic museums while at the same time working to improve the taste of his artworks.

